NEWSWIRE

CANADA DEFEAT KENYA IN 1st T20i

After a pair of disappointing ODI losses at the hands of Kenya, Canada has hit back with a confident victory in the first of two T20i's from the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Kenyan's were immediately pegged back by opening spells from Henry Osinde (4-26-3 9.00RPO) and Junaid Siddiqui (4-10-3 2.50RPO). Osinde and Siddiqui took wickets at regular intevals leaving Kenya reeling at 45 for 6 in 7.2 overs before Rakep Patel led the recovery with Nelson Odhiambo, seeing Kenya to a respectable total of 127.

In reply, Canada lost skipper Rizwan Cheema cheaply in the 2nd over, however his opening partner Hiral Patel (40 from 40 balls) provided a handy knock which built partnerships with both Ruvindu Gunasekera (18 from 17 balls) and Nitish Kumar (18 from 12 balls) before falling in the 15th over with the run chase poised at 97-4. A flury of wickets in the middle order was halted by Jimmy Hansra and Usman Limbada who saw Cricket Canada over the line with 9 balls to spare.

Canadian spinner Junaid Siddiqui was named player of the match for his efforts in delivering the 2nd best performance by a Canadian bowler in T20i competition.

Canada will complete its T20 series with Kenya on Saturday before shifting to the ICUP fixture which starts on Monday.